Google 2001 index returns
In celebration of its 10th birthday, Google has dusted off its 2001 search index for another outing.
Google 2001 allows users to turn the search clock back to a simpler time, way before the credit crunch and when no-one had heard of Barack Obama or Sarah Palin, to see how Google viewed the web in January 2001.
Why, you might ask, choose the 2001 index for Google 10th anniversary? Although Google started indexing the web in 1998, the 2001 index is the earliest functional index their engineers could lay their hands on - according to the Google blog found “hidden in a corner beneath Larry’s and Sergey’s original lab coats”.
Despite Google not seeming to change too much over the years, firing up Google 2001 brings up some instantly noticeable differences from today’s incarnation.
- The logo, although basically the same, has lost its exclamation mark and subtley morphed from cartoonish to professional.
- The ‘I’m feeling lucky’ button is nowhere to be seen.
- A proud statement that it is searching 1.3 billion pages (the focus has now moved away from boasting about index size to relevancy - though the index size is likely to now be considerably larger).
The biggest changes however are likely to have happened under the skin of the website famous as much for its clear, simple appearance as its uncanny knack for delivering relevant search results. Seven years of refinement is a long time on the internet - a period where the company has had to deal with massive success and all the challenges that come with it (Googlebomb anyone?).
If you would like to indulge your nostalgia you can try Google 2001 here.
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